Well, That Went Better Than Expected
by Xx.LoveIsABlessing.xX
Summary: Sequel to First Ink. Ty debuts his new tattoo to his family, with alarming results...


**Well, That Went Better Than Expected**

Ty took a deep breath and ran his hands up his face and into his hair, his nerves surfacing again.

Today was the day he was going to debut his tattoo to his parents, and then the town. It was finally healed after a month and he was going to show it off. He'd been extremely careful to not let _anyone_ know he had it, only his girlfriend of three years, Amy, knew that he had it out of any of his friends and family. Her, the tattoo artist who did it, and the girl who'd been working the counter at the tattoo shop that day. Three people besides Ty himself knew, no one else.

He'd been very careful to make sure that he didn't wear anything that would show it ahead of time, even going so far as to start laying his clothes for the next day out on his dresser at night and sleeping in a t-shirt to make sure that he didn't accidently give it away on the mornings when he went downstairs for breakfast and was still half asleep, no clue of even what he had on or what time it was. He did have his days when he was _not_ a morning person, after all.

But today he'd purposely dressed in a pair of loose sweat pants, black boxers, and socks. No shirt.

Going to the bathroom that adjoined his bedroom, he again looked in the mirror at his tattoo and smiled softly as he saw the black ink that was permanently a part of his body. He was proud of his tattoo, it was tough looking and looked good with his body type; athletic and leanly muscular, amazingly toned.

He was proud of how he looked, and he was proud of his tattoo, so why did he feel so nervous about showing it to his family?

Probably because since he'd turned eighteen a month ago, the same day he'd snuck off and got the tattoo, him and his dad had been fighting worse than ever over the littlest, stupidest things.

Ty knew that his tattoo would probably start another fight, but what was done was done, that tattoo wasn't going anywhere and he didn't want it to, his dad would just have to accept that.

Ty left his bathroom and went to his bedroom, where he paused and took a deep breath, then went downstairs for breakfast.

The house was eerily quiet as he went downstairs, past all of the pictures hanging on the wall, past the living room and into the kitchen.

His mother was standing at the stove, cooking eggs, while his dad sat at the kitchen table and drank a glass of coffee.

Hearing his son come into the room, Brad Baldwin looked up and froze when he saw Ty's left shoulder.

Ty calmly walked to the kitchen table and pulled out a chair, sitting down. He appeared calm, but his heart was beating a bruise against his ribs in his chest as he looked up and met his father's eyes.

Brad's eyes were wide, and locked onto his tattoo.

Ty put on an innocent face, "Something wrong, Dad?"

At that Karen turned to look and she too froze when she caught sight of her son. Her eyes widened, as his father's had, and she shot a look at Brad worriedly.

She hated to see him and Ty fight, and she knew that this would push his buttons like nothing else ever had.

"Son," Brad said slowly, "What's that on your shoulder?"

"It's a tribal tattoo, Dad." Ty said calmly as he stood and went to the cabinet, pulling down a glass and going to the refridgerator. He poured himself a glass of orange juice as his parents collected their thoughts.

"Ty, when did you get it?" Karen asked calmly.

"On my birthday." Ty answered easily and slid back into his seat, lifting his glass and taking a large swig of his juice.

"Did it ever occur to you to run it by us first, before you went and got it?" Brad asked, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Not really." Ty answered honestly as he set his glass down and crossed his arms over the table, making sure that as much of the tattoo as possible was visible. "But now that you've seen it, what do you think? Looks good, don't it?" He smiled easily in that charming way of his.

"Looks good? _Looks good?_ Do you have any idea what you've done to yourself?" Brad's voice rose with his anger.

Ty shrugged nonchalantly, "Body art, Dad. I wanted it, I paid for it, I like it."

"And what does Amy have to say about it? I'm sure you've shown it to her." Karen asked.

Ty had already decided that his parents didn't need to know that Amy had been there with him when he'd gotten it. That would only make them mad at her, and he didn't want that. He'd told Amy as much and made her promise to be just as shocked with his tattoo as everyone else, as though she'd never seen it before. She hadn't wanted to go with the idea, but he'd finally gotten her to agree.

"She doesn't know yet. Today is kinda like the big debut." Ty grinned as though he was excited, even though his stomach was rolling nervously.

"What do you think she's going to say about it?" Brad asked. His voice was calmer now, but Ty still saw the anger flaring in his eyes.

Ty shrugged, "I'm not sure yet. If she doesn't like it right off I'm sure she'll get used to it and come to like it."

"What makes you so sure?" Brad asked next.

"Because she loves me." Ty answered.

"Ty, that tattoo is pretty big, isn't it?" Karen asked, moving the forgotten eggs off of the stove and turning it off.

Ty shrugged, "It's alright."

His dad had went oddly silent and was watching him closely, an unreadable look in his eyes. Ty met his eyes without flinching and Karen looked between the two nervously.

A few tense minutes went by.

Brad suddenly let out a breath and shook his head, shocking both Ty and Karen when a small smile came to his face. He looked up and smiled at his son.

"I can honestly say that you're braver than I was at your age. I wanted to get a tattoo the day of my eighteenth birthday, but I couldn't do it. You did. So tell me son, how bad did it hurt?" Brad asked, an amused gleam coming to his eyes as he remembered his own youth and how much his son was like him. It honestly made him proud that Ty was so much like he had been.

Ty grinned in relief, "Stung a little, but I kept my mind off of it and it was fine."

Karen let out a small breath of relief as she realized that there would be no big blow up between father and son over this newest situation. She turned back to the eggs, deemed them unedible, and dumped them in the trash before starting over with fresh eggs.

"Only a little bit, huh?" Brad raised an eyebrow at Ty.

Ty shrugged, "I may have kept my mind busy with a conversation, so what?"

Brad laughed at that and took a second to really look at his son's tattoo. "It goes over your shoulder?"

"Only to about my shoulder blade." Ty answered and twisted in his seat so that his father could see the other side of the tattoo.

"Well as far as tattoos go you made a good choice, it's not something stupid or ugly." Brad said and sighed in relief. Ty laughed.

"You aren't going to get anymore of them, right?" Karen asked.

"I don't plan on it, no ma'am." Ty answered, grinning at his mother.

"Thank you." Karen said and turned back to breakfast. Both Brad and Ty heard her mutter, "Thank God."

They shared grins before Ty picked up his juice and took another drink.

Brad's face took on a serious expression, "Have you really not shown it to Amy, Ty? Some girls don't like tattoos."

Ty bit his lip and prayed he wasn't making a bad decision, "Actually, yes sir she has seen it. She went with me when I got it. She honestly tried to talk me out of it, but you know how bullheaded I am. She didn't want me to be alone when I got it so she went with me."

Brad tilted his head and smiled softly, "Hm, she should've known that once you're set on something you can't be talked out of it."

"You aren't mad at her, are you?" Ty asked nervously.

"No, son. I'm glad that you didn't get that thing all by yourself, and I am grateful that she tried to talk you out of it." Brad said. He looked to Karen to see what she had to say.

"Amy is a sweet girl, and I'm going to be sure to thank her when I see her for trying to talk you out of it, but for being there for you when you got it." Karen said and Ty smiled in relief.

"Okay." he said.

Karen finished with the eggs and put them onto a waiting plate that already held bacon and a piece of toast. She then carried it to the table and set it down in front of Ty.

"Thanks, Momma." He said as he picked up his fork. As he ate, all that Ty could think was how relieved he was that his parents had taken to his tattoo so easily. He smiled softly to himself.

Boy, was Amy going to be surprised when he told her...


End file.
